On the face of it, a 3-0 home defeat is a pretty bad way to begin the last ever season at Everton’s historic home of Goodison Park. And, while there are a number of issues to get annoyed about following this game, I simply wish to spread positivity and move forwards as a club. That being said, I remain aware that it was a really disappointing result.
In the first half, Everton controlled the possession and threatened on a number of occasions – having a goal (correctly) disallowed, followed by a counter where they both hit the post and missed an open goal in the same passage of play. Frustratingly, it is the same story as last season where the team ultimately performs better than their opponents but simply cannot shoot. Everton were less exciting to watch in the second half, following Ashley Young’s reckless sending off – which subsequently killed off the game for Everton.
Many of Everton’s best and exciting players are not yet available or not yet ready to start in the Premier League – according to Dyche. Iliman Ndiaye came on late in the second half with Everton already 2 goals and a man down, while new signing Jesper Lindstrom did not feature, instead playing the full 90 minutes in the EFL Trophy afterwards. Everton are also massively reliant on Jarrad Branthwaite who is not yet back from a minor surgery over the summer – and will be a much, much greater side when he comes in for Michael Keane, who hasn’t been anywhere near good enough for many years now.
New signing Tim Iroegbunam had a very encouraging debut, he was faultless where others struggled.
There are plenty of positives to take from a very bad day.